Dear Henry,
I love our Monday morning routines.
Mondays are our day. We have our routine that I never want to give up. We wake up early and drop big sister off a daycare and then we head over to the beautiful town of Perth to this perfect little coffee shop. I order a Café Mocha with Peppermint and we settle in on the big comfy couch. We cuddle and play and look at the ever-changing paintings on the wall. I nurse you. You fall asleep. I bundle you up and let you rest on the couch. While you sleep, I work. Your peacefulness inspires my writing. We stay for a few hours, talking with different people every day.
It’s nice, this time I get to spend with you. I wish we could do this forever, without the pressure of the real world constantly surrounding us. I wish we didn’t have to worry about money, or obligations. I wish we could live a simpler life just focused on our family.
I think this is why Monday mornings make me so happy. We don’t have any plans. We don’t have to be anywhere. We just enjoy each other.
This past month I have really noticed how much you enjoy Olive, and how much Olive enjoys you. You are two peas in a pod that sends tingles to the very tips of my toes. The world, in your eyes, is a better place when your big sister is holding your hand and cuddling you close. She is so protective of you. She makes sure her friends don’t get too close. She checks to see if you have any teeth coming up. She tells me when you need to have a diaper change. She always asks to have baths with you. Watching how you interact with each other is truly the most brilliant thing I have ever had the privilege of witnessing. I often find myself stepping back to watch you two together. I love to see you both nurturing each other without my influence. Olive is so proud. You have been such a blessing to her, and to me!
It is hard to imagine that 6 short months ago, you were so little in my arms. You are growing so strong and more alert as each day passes. You are a mover and a shaker, jumping non-stop in your jumper. You have started sitting on your own a few weeks ago, and are reaching for everything in sight. You are learning through your senses, touching and tasting. The sound of song curls your little perfect lips into the biggest grin I have seen. You are so curious about everything around you.
6 months is a bittersweet milestone for me. With Olive, I had planned to nurse her without any real goals. I wasn’t sure if I’d like it, but it turned out to be one of the things I loved the most. I knew what to expect this time around. I knew that this would be my thing. I knew this would be the one thing that only I could do. I knew that it would be the one thing that I enjoy the most. You have made nursing so easy and so convenient. As 6 months quickly snuck up on us, we knew you were ready for solid food. We knew you were ready long before the 6-month mark. You were so curious about food. You watched intently at every meal, mouth wide open in hopes that something might fall in. I didn’t want the 6-month mark to come. I love solely nursing you. 6 months means that you don’t only need me. 6 months mean that slowly solid food will take over, and my milk will just be snacks. I was excited for you to experience new tastes and textures, but I was also sad that the one thing that I could only do was no longer. Bittersweet love.
We finally have snow. After our green Christmas we had snow here and there, but now we have SNOW! During one of our wintery morning walks, your eyes were aglow as you watched fluffy white snow fall from the sky. Your eyes were full of magic and wonder. I wish I could hear what you were thinking as the littlest snowflake landed on your button nose. Childhood is so enchanting and I have a front row seat on this magical ride!
Notes for Henry:
- At your 6 month check up you were 17 pounds and 27.5 inches long.
- You have rolled over a couple of times (your first time on your 5 month birthday), but I think those were flukes! You are more into standing and jumping!
- Your giggles are contagious. When Daddy tickles your belly, you laugh so hard!
- Your first taste of solid food came on your 6-month birthday. Sweet Potato Puree! You loved the first few tastes and then had a meltdown! The second time brought about another meltdown, but slowly you decided it wasn’t a bad thing!
- You are starting to make sounds that sound like words! Your first “word” sounded like “MaMaMaMaMaMaMaMa” and now you have added “DaDaDaDaDa”. You have no idea how happy this makes me! Olive didn’t Momma until well after her first birthday!
- You have started having baths with Olive in her bath! You both love it so much. Often you have a pee-pee that makes both of you giggle!
- We went to visit Candice at the Green farm one day. We checked out all the big moo moo’s and their babies. We had a great time!
You remind me on a daily basis that I was meant to me a mother. We were learning and growing with Olive at each new stage, slowly forgetting what it was like to have a baby. This time around, we know what is coming next, so I find myself enjoying each stage, rather than panicking as we learn about the right foods to feed you or what you should be doing by now. I was so busy with Olive trying to keep up that it made me forget all the wonders and joys of the first 6 months of her life. You are a breath of fresh air. A constant reminder that there is more to life than the chaos that used to be. You make me slow down. You inspire me. You love me. The lessons you have taught me in the last 6 months have been the best lessons I have learned. Far too often we get caught up chaos, living each day as a to-do list. You remind me to be spontaneous, to say no to things I don’t want to do, to wholehearted enjoy my family. You are magic. You are wonderful. I am blessed.
Love you to the moon and back!
xoxoxox
Momma
